We recently got to catch up with Makeout on their first headlining tour. Check out what they had to say in our interview with the below!
How did you guys get started?
Sam: It’s complicated
Tyler: Sam and I were in a band, Alex used to manage us, we went into the studio to record an album.
Sam: We brought in a lot of demos
Tyler: We needed a drummer, tried out a bunch, and Scott was our man
Sam: Because he plays on time
Tyler: And here we are. That’s the fast version
What are some of your guys’ influences?
Sam: I like All Time Low, My Chemical Romance, Foo Fighters. I like Adele, I like Demi Lovato, I like all sorts of things. I like pretty much all the music, but for the most part it’s very rock influenced, and very pop influenced
So, you came out with an album.
Sam: Yup
How has that helped your career?
Sam: Out of all the records that I’ve worked on personally, and I bet the other guys would agree, it’s definitely been the most receptive. Our music videos that we’ve released online so far have had a lot of good reception, and the numbers just keep growing, and hopefully as we tour more we’ll get more fans and everything will keep going up.
Alex: Yeah it’s been fun. Everyone’s really enjoyed the record. We think we’ve put out a record that pretty much anyone can relate to.
Sam: It shows a lot of diversity, a lot of people can vibe with it.
Alex: Yeah, it’s not just one thing. It kind of encompasses a lot of stuff
Sam: Like in Crazy you get a lot of stuff. There are trap elements, which is interesting for pop punk. It’s not really something that I was used to. But then you go to things like Blast Off, which is just straight pop punk, so I feel like there are a lot of things for everyone on the record
Band, collectively, as a whole, speaking over one another profusely: Travis Barker helped on You Can’t Blame Me. He played the drums.
How was it working with Travis Barker and 5SOS?
Sam: Both of those were pretty surreal. I’d say it was more surreal with Travis Barker because he’s a huge icon, but overall, all of those dudes treated us like we were regular people and it was just kind of insane to work with those people and kind of understand that they are also regular people. Especially Travis Barker. They were nothing but helpful, and they taught us a lot about what the music industry is and how we can grow. I think it was a super big opportunity for us and they still support us to this day so it’s pretty sick.
You worked with John Feldman too. How was that
Sam: He’s a nut, but he’s exciting
How is the new stuff different from your old stuff?
Sam: I mean we really didn’t have old stuff. Makeout is a very new project. Me personally, it’s in a more vocal centric direction. The stuff I was doing before this band, I would focus on weird things like Oh this guitar riff is cool but then I kinda realized working with Feldy that it’s about how the kids are gonna interact with the shit. And usually that has to do with what lyrics you’re putting out and how it’s gonna translate to make them feel a certain way and I really appreciated that
How was the Blink tour?
All: Amazing
Tyler: The Blink tour was the fucking best. They treated us like family. We have never been so spoiled in our entire lives. [You] roll up and they unload everything for you, and then you go eat breakfast, and then a couple hours later they have a lunch buffet, and then you just hang out, do soundcheck, play the show, and then dinner’s ready. Like it was crazy, it was awesome.
And I’m sure it helped build a new fanbase for the new band
Sam: Oh yeah. The only downside was we didn’t have a CD out yet. So the crazy thing was the Blink shows were our first shows as Makeout.
Tyler: So we literally showed up, no one knew any of us. No one knew any of our music, knew anything of us, and we had a great time.
Sam: But they vibed, so it was really cool. We even got a rider on that tour, which is the first time that we’ve gotten a rider in our careers. And it was a serious rider, we could put anything we wanted on it. Like we had a bottle of whiskey, and fruit.
What’s your favorite song to play live?
Scott: Salt Lake City and Clockwork
Alex: Clockwork is fun live.
Sam: I like Lisa
Scott: I’m always dead by that point
Sam: Yeah I’m usually a little tired by that point, but I feel like the people love that song so much just because of its quirky attitude
So this was your first headlining tour, as Makeout. How did it go?
Sam: Before we played, like a month before we were here, we didn’t really know what to expect because we just released our album and everything. But overall, the reception was amazing. We drew a lot of kids to all the shows and it was really fun for all of us. This tour was a lot bigger than we expected it to be. There were a lot more kids at the shows than we expected, and hopefully in the future we’ll have even bigger crowds
Do you have any plans coming up?
Alex: Stuff we can’t talk about. All you need to know is a ton more touring for us. We’re gonna be everywhere. We’re going back to the UK, we’re gonna do another full US, hopefully at the end of this year we’ll be in Australia. Just everywhere
Is there anything else you want to say?
Sam & Tyler: Shoutout Rise Records
Scott: It’s negative five degrees, and I hate this shit
Sam: Scott doesn’t like the cold because he’s from a really warm place.
Alex: Follow us on everything. We’re @makeoutofficial on everything.
Listen to the interview below!
https://soundcloud.com/ashleigh-graybill-1/makeout-interview/s-JS2F2